Our hotel is over 100 years old and has been run by the same family for the last three generations. They are warm and gracious hosts, and have rooms that are dated but clean. They also serve breakfast for over three hours every morning, which was a welcome change to not have to source that meal ourselves for a few days.

After we all met for breakfast at 9.30am, Zac who is still not well went back to bed, Luke took the rest of the troops into the Old Town, while Ross, Beck and I trekked to a laundromat a few blocks away with our several bags of dirty clothes. (Okay, we Uber’ed there because I didn’t want to carry dirty clothes for blocks and blocks, but they made me walk the clean clothes back!)

It was the best laundromat I have ever used – so clean, so many machines, choices of machine size (I know, only I could get excited by a laundromat….). While waiting for our washing, we explored the local area a little bit, then returned it to our hotel and bussed in to meet the others at a restaurant they had found for lunch. Following on from the best laundromat ever, at the Metzgersteig restaurant I had the best Wiener schnitzel ever! (And am looking forward to seeing if Munich can beat that).

We had intended to be at the stage near the Christmas markets, set up in Chapter Square, at 2pm. Salzburg start their NYE festivities by showing fireworks from places around the world, starting at 2pm with Sydney! But everyone was more interested in their lunch by then.

We then walked around to the Catacombs, which were closed, so took the funicular to the Fortress Hohensalzburg to explore, where the views were spectacular.

Many stairs were climbed (and my lung capacity ain’t what it was a few days ago with this chest infection!), so while the boys and Belle decided to walk down from the fortress, Abi, Jess, Beck and I caught the funicular back down (the others beat us to the bottom!).

I did want to be at Salzburg Cathedral by 5pm because the NYE activities Beck had listed included the live broadcast of the annual financial statements in the cathedral (picture attached to prove I am not making this up), but it was a whole church service. Belle and I could sight sing along with the hymns, but couldn’t understand what they were saying, so we didn’t stay for the reading of the financials. I do like its inclusion as a NYE activity though!

Those at the laundromat had missed exploring the Christmas markets, so we still need to do that, but decided to go back to the hotel with the others and revisit the markets tomorrow.

Our hotel has a happy hour in their Baroque room from 5-7pm each day, and the owner kindly let us all congregate in there for the evening. We had such a late lunch and main meal that most weren’t hungry, so they left in small groups to get a light meal from nearby shops (we are a block from the main train station, so have cafes and Subway and McDonalds close by), and we enjoyed being able to eat together instead of in our five separate rooms.

Subway was the most popular choice for dinner, which is a healthy option until Sam and Cooper find a side quest. They discovered they could order a foot long cookie!!

The Baroque room had a selection of games to play, and a guitar in the corner, so of course Jarrod spent some time playing and Belle singing. Even Uncle Luke joined in for one song – music really is in the air in Mozart’s birthplace!

I flicked through the guest book and came across a letter from the White House – it appears President Ford and his wife stayed here in 1975!

Most of us decided to turn in for the night (this is the first NYE in many decades I haven’t seen the new year in!), but Luke, Cooper, Jarrod, Tom, Abi and Sam decided to walk back to the Old Town to watch the fireworks. And so ends 2024.